The Veteran

This quiet Vet passed in July ’15. He was 98. In ’43 he sailed west to Pearl, then onward through the Pacific: Tinian, Saipan, Iwo. He was a U.S. Army sharpshooter, an MP guarding Japanese prisoners of war.

In ’45, weapons at rest, he traveled back east by train. He worked as a plasterer at the White House. His clearance gave them fits–fingers, worn smooth by labor, refused to yield prints.

It amused him to collect retirement more years than they made him work.

Rest in Peace, S.A. East, Jr.

Take pride, Veterans.

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain. John Adams US diplomat & politician (1735 – 1826)